A Very PlayStation Christmas
by N.kirby
Summary: Once the first quarter of the Tournament was done with, Noire invites the All-Stars for the holidays… What could go wrong? How about everything? (inspired by JaredTheMan05's PSASBR Christmas Special, I wanted to do my own as well!)
1. The Feast

**(( Hey Guys! This is a bit of a a mini-story, that takes place during the events of "Tournament Royale"**

**I have to partially thank JaredTheMan05, his very humorous Christmas story of the All-Stars inspired me, I wanted to write one anyway too! I should also write a comment on your story soon… I'm sorry that I didn't, I was busy writing this one!**

**Disclaimer: I own no characters in the story! They are all owned by respectful owners!))**

* * *

**Chapter One**

They arrived at the doorstep, with the first quarter of the tournament done with everyone would have normally been discharged to relax. But Noire said it would be nice for the All-Stars to have quality time for the holidays. For the most part anyway… Some felt forcefully dragged a bit, others just wanted social hour, and then there were those who just wanted to cause trouble.

Naturally, trouble came usually from Sweet Tooth, so most had to keep an eye on him. Didn't help that he was told to bring out the Christmas Cake. "I'm usually used to making things with ice cream in them. Not saying I can't whip up other sweets, but-"

"Just don't poison them is all we ask. Or anything else knowing you." The clown growled a bit, Sackboy taking away the drug bottle from him and giving a look of disapproval. Pupuru could see it from the corner, working on her dish. "It's tempting for me to do that right now but…" Her words trailed off.

Sweet Tooth chuckled a bit at that last part. Kuu continued giving him a hateful stare, he didn't trust him needless to say. Then again, no one really did, Kuu didn't like any males around his partner though. And having a psychotic clown was one of the worst that could be near.

"You could at least put a shirt on Kane." Toro said nervously, preparing a fish. They were all put in charge of different things. Sackboy and Sweet Tooth were preparing the sweets, which were going to be quickly consumed by Fat Princess if they didn't plan ahead.

On the other end, Pupul and Toro were doing main courses. The cat worked with a sushi store owner, so he had enough history of what could be done with fish. He already finished working on the salmon, some rolls, shrimp puffs, and even lobster.

Pupul was an expert with spices, as expected from where she comes from and collects materials for a living. "Kuu, wanna test taste for me?" The little creature hopped up, shoving a spoonful of curry into himself. He had a look of satisfaction. "That's the mild and sweet plate. You wouldn't mind trying the strong one, would you?"

* * *

Noire usually didn't do much for Christmas, so it was a bit of a surprise when most of the All-Stars accepted her invite to come over. She always anticipated that Neptune would say yes, but not everyone else. Granted, some were forcefully dragged over, such examples were Heihachi and Doctor Nefarious. He preferred being to himself, but was dragged in by Zeus.

Most didn't expect Zeus to be not be his usual self, yet lo and behold, he wanted to dress like Santa as a surprise. Kratos wasn't too happy about him showing up, as he himself was forced not only by his rival; Sweet Tooth, but Scorpion and Neptune. "I'm surprised you even wanted to come here." The god of war mumbled to the ninja. "Don't you have better things to do?"

Scorpion was quiet for a moment. "You should be glad to come here, where would you go if we didn't drag you?" He didn't answer. "I came here because I wanted to, and… Because I don't really know what holidays are. I don't really have anyone to be around for." Feeling guilty for a moment, Kratos tilted his head down. He partially knew what that was like, no family to be with since they were killed.

"Hey! Don't make this into a sad moment! We're here for you, and that's what matters! Right Grimm?" Nepnep chirped, the reaper not wanting to answer. "Well, I am! And I'm sure upon hearing that, Kratos is too!" Kratos growled a bit, not wanting to remember those events. He and Scorpion were rivals. Not in the same way as he was to Sweet Tooth, or the spector to Sub-Zero's brother. More-so in a 'who can be the most brutal opponent' kind of way.

The only time they really agreed on something, is when they were both forced to go through a nightmarish land and kill Freddy Krueger. But that's a story for another time…

By the time Pupul came out along with Toro with dinner. Uni was already pouring drinks for everyone. "Yo! No one told me you two could cook!" PaRappa said, the sorceress just giggled in delight as the plates were put down carefully. "Smells delicious too! When do we start?"

All of them sat down, Sweet Tooth finally came out of the kitchen. "Sackboy is preparing dessert, I'm guessing he wanted us to start without him while he gets everything else ready." Princess Plump felt her eyes beam up from that statement.

"Does anyone have any stupid words to say before we dig in? I hate those speeches." Evil Cole said with a cocky grin. Noire was about to raise her glass before she was interrupted by him. "Alright then! Chow time!" The goddess of Lastation went ignored, something she didn't like in the slightest, especially from her own creations and a fellow goddess.

Normal Cole shook his head a bit, annoyed by his counterpart's rude behavior on Christmas night. No one noticed Pupul instantly leave the dining room while Kuu was getting a chair for her. Sir Daniel lifted his drink for a sip, only then realizing he had no jaw, and it spilled onto his armor.

He tried to cover it up with a napkin despite Radec already seeing it. The colonel chuckled under his gas-mask, he began to remove it. "Are you always this idiotic? I'm starting to question your IQ levels." Dan did not take that lightly, but chose to let it go for now. Evil Cole ended up laughing with him though.

Going toward the large plate between him and Scorpion, Dan took a spoonful for his own plate. The spector had a look of worry for Fortesque. "Uh, Fortesque?" Kuu found himself smiling a bit too now. "I'm not sure if you want to try and eat that..."

"What?" He mumbled. "I can eat! Really! And drink, it was just a slip up! Don't hold it against me for the whole meal, alright?" Scorpion didn't bother stopping him after that. Daniel took in what was in front of him. No spilling this time, but when he swallowed it, his eye watered.

... And then his jawless maw spit out fire. "That's what I was trying to tell you. It's extra spicy and strong curry, don't eat if you can't handle it." Scorpion sighed, able to handle the powerful taste much easier. "If you were used to such like I am, that would not have happened." Evil Cole and Kuu were cracking up once more, even Mael Radec found himself unable to contain laughter from his rival's misfortune. The only bystander to help was Abe, who got ice-cold water for Dan.

Such events were short-lived when Pupuru returned to take the chair Kuu was saving. Slamming down the seat, wedging herself between Radec and Dan. "Hope I wasn't keeping anyone waiting! I didn't want to be in my kitchen clothes." Sir Daniel was too busy cooling off his mouth with the water to even notice she came back.

"I smell lavender." Evil Cole commented once more. "Lemme guess, wanna be near your boyfriend so you prettied yourself up?" She nodded, he gave his trademark scoff of amusement. Daniel found himself now chuckling in the misery of his rival, turning the tables on Radec.

Mael gave a hateful glare to that comment. "Excuse yourself, but I am not in a relation with this sorceress." Once again, good bystander Abe chose to cover the ears of Little Sister. Big Daddy gave a groan of disapproval, but then saw he was doing the right thing by Radec's next comment. "She is only fourteen. And I am not up for her underage advances. If she was older, had her more diabolical and sadistic side, then I would consider it for a moment. There need to be more people like me in the world."

A snicker came from Daniel while Evil Cole responded again. "More people like you would sooner end everything of Lastation. Unless you want that, you could have kids. Lose your virginity much quicker since you clearly died one." Pupul hid herself under the tablecloth in embarrassment a little. Daxter spat out his drink, spraying all over Clank by accident.

"Please keep fluids that were already drank or in the process to yourself..." Drying himself off, he responded before Radec pulled out his gun on Evil Cole. "There are plenty like Colonel Radec already around, some in the Helghan and still alive. There is this high-ranked man in the Helghast empire named _Jorhan Stahl_ who lived from a-"

Slamming his hand against the table which made Pupul jump and hit her head, Mael pointed his gun at the robot. "Do NOT compare him to me! And I am no virgin!" Ratchet pulled out one of his own weapons, willing to defend his partner by any cost. Evil Cole felt the power flowing through him and nearly ready to attack.

Only by now did Mr. Grimm feel his attention grabbed a bit. "Oooh, someone's going to _die_? Could I have their souls? I'm not up for eating this mortal food. All I had for breakfast was birds." Blasto had finished off the last of the salmon.

"Aye, what is wrong with _you_ all the time?" Sweet Tooth grumbled. "That all you think about? I'm a psychotic guy in a clown outfit who loves ice cream and killed his own family, but all you care about is the souls of others including animals and when their death sentence is? Get a hobby!"

Upon that, Scorpion cringed. "You _KILLED_ your own family?!" Kratos knew where this was going. "My rival is not the monster, you are, freak!" Sweet Tooth narrowed his eye, Abe was now escorting Little Sister out of the dining hall with Big Daddy.

"I think I gotta go to the bathroom." Daxter said, getting up... Until he saw Sackboy enter with the large chocolate cake. "Whoops! Nevermind, I can hold it!" The moment he came in, Sweet Tooth had to protect the burlap sack-toy from Fat Princess lunging at the sweets.

While Noire was just watching everything going on around her by now, Pupul got back up from the table and began to childishly beat her hands against Radec's sides. "What do you mean you're not a virgin before I got here?! You jerk!" Isaac Clarke found himself now laughing about the predicament.

Sackboy finally got to put the cake onto the table so Plump couldn't reach. "Make sure to just deliver a slice to Little Sister and Bubbles... Abe had to get them away from the chaos." Noire said with a sigh. Sweet Tooth managed to sit down next to his rival, he and Scorpion giving stares of dislike to each other. Uni grinned a bit at this.

"Can't let anyone ruin this now, especially you cupcake! Last year for Christmas you gave me an IOU for that ice cream! I expect more this yea-"

"Yes! I've _always_ wanted to say this!" Noire knew what her little sister was about to do, but was too late to stop it. _**"MERRY CHRISTMAS! HO-HO-HO-HOMOSEXUALS!"**_ Everyone jumped at Uni's sudden burst, Kratos took a moment to process that entirely before he understood and wanted to react.

… React by jumping at the younger goddess. "Hades awaits you, goddess who wishes to mock me!" Stopped only by Neptune throwing her plate of mild curry at him. "Gah!… You! You will pay for that! Feel my wrath!" Grabbing the closest thing, he tossed the olive oil at Nepnep, ruining her hair.

Mr. Grimm caught hold of Blasto's plate to toss at Kratos in defense of Nepnep. The god of war dodged it, as the china broke on Sweet Tooth's head instead. He nearly had a concussion from the impact, but managed to keep himself up. "Oh, we're playing this game then? Well take this then, Grimmy!"

Taking all the uneaten shrimp puffs, he tried to throw them into Mr. Girmm's eye-sockets. Instead it hit Scorpion, Sweet Tooth gulped a bit, as the spector got up. "Get over here!" He shouted, shooting his speared-chain at the clown and pulling him over across the table.

With little options available at hand only Sir Daniel could save the cake from being ruined. Removing his arm to grab it, Fat Princess was eyeballing it, before long she began running over to Dan to take it. Taking the sweets with his other hand, he accidentally tossed the other limb at Radec who was right next to him.

"You… I'm finished with!" With one arm missing, Sir Daniel made a break for it, now trying to avoid both Plump and Mael. Lacking one of his arms made it too difficult to balance, Kat took over for him with her gravity powers to keep the cake in place while Dan ran around to keep Radec off of him.

Throughout all that, Pupul joined in for fun and to hold down Radec, followed by Spike trying to prevent that along with Fat Princess now going after Kat. Nathan Drake caught something at the corner of his eye, now seeing that Sly was trying to take the vase off the table. "Hey squirrel boy! Cut that out!" He tossed Sir Dan's arm at him, which was dodged. In retaliation, the raccoon threw an alarm clock at Nate.

"Cole! Catch!" Kat yelled, Cole managed to catch the cake and cookies with his telekinesis, now it was his turn to be . Radec was tired of chasing the knight, lifting up the spicy plate he threw it in Sir Daniel's direction. It landed right onto his face, as he ran around like he was on fire now. Mael grinned at his perfect aim, but not for long as Pupul tackled him from behind.

Spike tried to pull Pupuru off, but felt himself blinded by Kuu latching onto his face for no reason. "Food fight!" Shouted Daxter, as he grabbed the rolls and threw them right at Kuro.

Trying to prevent more outbreak, Jak grabbed his partner. "Dax! No!" That is, until he felt a lobster claw his the side of his face. It coming from Doc Nefarious who just cackled at them. "… You know what Dax?" He handed him a plate of food. "Be my guest." Daxter grinned with him, aiming for the robotic man who felt the dome on his head cracked from the toss.

Everyone was causing a massacre now.

Heihachi felt mochi from Toro being thrown at him,

Cole was doing a round-about with Kat and Emmett to avoid Fat Princess,

Scorpion was beating Sweet Tooth's face in,

Dan was trying to rid of the fires in his maw,

Grimm was holding off Kratos to keep him away from Neptune,

Spike was trying to remove Kuu from his face while PaRappa and Sackboy helped,

Pupul was… Smothering Radec,

Nariko and Donte got into an argument that led to things being thrown,

eventually Ratchet and Blasto got involved as well for no reason.

The only ones being normal were Isaac Clarke, Clank, Raiden, and Dart. Kat was now confused, letting Evil Cole and not the normal one catch the cake this time. Noire was beyond angry at this point. "Stop! Stop it at once! Continue such and I-"

She didn't get a word in, as the cake was mashed right into her. Covered in chocolate, ruining her dress and hair. "Who… Did that?" Everyone stopped, knowing that the sweets were gone. They all stared at Evil Cole, who then Fat Princess pointed at.

It was silent for a whole minute. Noire got out of her seat and left the dining hall, opening the door to leave to her room. "I hope you are all happy with what you have caused around you. I will not be celebrating with any of you again sometime soon." Clank wanted to stop her and explain it better, but it was too late, she and Uni left.

Little did they know, someone from the outside had witnessed the events. The unknown figure left a package at the front door and fled.

* * *

**((Yes, Pom Gets Wi-Fi reference… Sue me.**

**Don't worry, there's going to be more chapters than this, probably three? It's a mini-story, so…))**


	2. Santa is here!

**Chapter Two**

Everyone was in a bit of a slump now. They knew that they ruined Christmas for Noire. When Big Daddy, Little Sister, and Abe came back to the scene it was a complete mess.

Kuu was finally off of Spike after Noire's absence, curling up on Pupul to hide. She herself got up after the drama as well. Sir Daniel finally cooled off his mouth, to see Radec wasn't chasing him anymore... But coated in strawberry lipstick.

Scorpion was no longer pinning down Sweet Tooth by the neck, as the clown was oddly enough being helped up by his rival. Kratos was no longer wanting to cut Neptune's limbs off. Evil Cole could see that his good counterpart, Kat, and Emmett were judging him. He was the one who caused Noire to leave, after all.

And he didn't like the stares. Evil Cole instantly took his leave in anger. "Not my fault everyone's a bunch of weak and unfun dweebs- Ow!" He stubbed his foot, cursing out a bit as he looked at the package on the steps. "Tch, what's this now?" And oddly enough, the present was addressed to him.

Now he was even more curious. If it wasn't for him, Evil Cole would've taken it for himself anyway. But it was, and it didn't say who wanted to give it to him. "Well, can't look at this here." Taking the box in arm, he ran off to a place to not be seen with it.

* * *

Abe took a moment to process what happened according to Clank. "Oh, well these things happen when you get a bunch of characters that don't go well together." He replied. "Do not worry about it too much! Besides, Santa Claus is on his way right now!" Little Sister gave a look of excitement, as opposed to the skeptical look by Scorpion.

"Santa Claus? Isn't he just a-"

"Ho-ho-ho!" A booming voice shouted, the door broken down by a bearded man in a red suit. Kratos gave a look of distaste, as he knew who this was. "How are all the mortal boys and girls of Lastation been doing? Have they been behaving? I brought presents for all the good ones!"

Kratos instantly wanted to object. A hand clamped around his mouth instead. "Don't bother, Zeus wanted to do this for whatever reason." Heihachi mumbled to him before releasing. "Well look who it is! Too bad that according to Noire, we were all pretty bad." Zeus allowed everyone else to follow him.

He just let out a Santa-like laugh. "Hoh! Well I'm sure none of you meant it. Besides, I know who's been naughty or nice." Sitting into a large chair and putting down the sack of presents, Zeus directed toward his son. "And I know for one, Kratos was naughty this year! I can tell by the way he's pouting!" Kratos didn't answer, just giving a glare at 'Santa'.

"Considering how he dumped olive oil on Neptune who was only acting out of defense for a friend... Yes, he was bad." Grimm mumbled, done with trying to clean Nepnep's hair. Zeus glared back at Kratos for what the reaper mentioned.

"You know who was also bad? Scorpion and Grimm. The ninja choked me over the table while soul-sucker killed some birds for his addiction." Sweet Tooth said.

Scorpion hissed back at the clown. "Us?! You're the one who killed your family and threw things at me! You deserve to be on the naughty list!"

Nathan Drake chuckled a bit. "Sly was trying to take stuff while we were eating."

"I think Nefarious is a pretty big offender. Something we can all agree on, right Ratchet? Dax?" Jak grinned, the lombax and ottsel concurring.

"You squishies broke the dome on my head!"

"Radec was making lewd comments about Pupul to the point where Abe had to remove Little Sister from the dining hall." Spike said.

"And Uni about myself and the clown." Kratos mentioned.

"So was Donte toward me." Nariko pointed out.

"Hey! It's Dante!"

Mael growled a bit. "That would not have started if not for Evil Cole for thinking I'm in a relationship with a teenager who proceeded to tackle me, and-"

"Evil Cole also ruined that perfectly good cake!" Fat Princess whined. "Oh, he also threw it at poor Noire, which made her leave... Granted, it was partially my own fault." Everyone flinched at this. "I was chasing after that good-looking cake, which caused problems. I'm willing to admit to that, so I guess I'm on the naughty list, huh?"

Guilt must have formed in everyone. They were so busy pinning blame on others about what happened, that they didn't confess to what they did wrong. "It wasn't entirely your fault! It was your instinct!" Kat said to comfort Plump. "It was my fault really! I confused Evil Cole for good Cole! That's why he tossed the sweets at Noire."

"Hey now, that's not true. If I spoke up sooner, I would've grabbed your attention! That's why you were confused!" Cole tried to add.

"It wouldn't have happened if I stepped in and did something." Raiden grumbled. "I want to protect people, but I couldn't even do that in such a chaotic dinner fight."

"And I could've easily talked everything out to end it, but I couldn't even apologize to Noire." Clank lowered his eyelids.

"Not true! You were being threatened a bit by Radec!" Neptune finally chimed in. "It all started because of me! I threw the first thing I could find at Kratos, who was already ticked off at Uni! I wanted to prevent harm from coming to her, but I didn't react properly..." She tilted her head to the god of war. "And for that, I'm really sorry Kratos, can you please forgive me?"

There was a moment of hesitance as she offered her hand. Slowly, Kratos shook it. "I forgive you, Purple Heart goddess." Something just hit him for a moment, realization. "That's right though! Where did the other Cole go?!" Zeus just shoved him, taking Neptune into his arms.

"Why does such matter now? Let the mortal go, right now, presents should be given to the sweetest girls of the All-Stars. And who better to start off with than the goddess of Planeptune?" Mr. Grimm felt his fist clench up a bit at the moves Zeus was pulling on her. "And I can tell you've been very nice this year, would you like you come back with Santa to the North Pole?" Now Kratos and Scorpion were annoyed by his antics as well.

She blushed a bit in embarrassment. "Huh? That would be weird, what would Mrs. Claus think?"

"Indeed, what would Hera think…" Kratos mumbled. Nepnep was oblivious to the fact it wasn't really Santa. "How long have to exactly been alive, 'Santa'? One doesn't stay looking so old and still be able to fly around with animals or however people describe it." Zeus felt a bit nervous, trying to ignore him.

After a moment, Mr. Grimm approached Zeus with a look of death in his eyes. "Come to think of it, Kratos is right in a way. Is this a soul that needs to be taken away? Have you been _cheating death_?" The 'Santa' shook his head.

"Oh don't worry Grimm! Santa is no different than myself in a way! He's a god too in ways!" Scorpion felt his palm apply to the face from this. "Besides, I know what I want for Christmas! I want Noire to feel better, she got upset and all, which was partially my fault… Could you give her my apology Santa?"

Zeus gave Nepnep a smile and nod, before removing her from his lap. "Now who's next? How about you, cute mortal?" He pointed to Kat, who saw past his disguise easily and groaned a bit.

* * *

Evil Cole looked at his present once more. He was far off by now, nothing but snow and forest around him. "Well, hopefully this ain't some sorta trick by someone, otherwise I'll be pissed." Carefully lifting the box's lid, there was a look of disappointment on him.

Only a clown mask and a note was inside. Not like the kind Sweet Tooth had though, which was scratched up and creepy looking. It was more proper, decorated with a smile, a red drip like a tear coming from one of the eyes, while the other had a black diamond painted over. "What kind of sick joke is this? Is it from that psycho?" Evil Cole snatched up the paper, opening it to read.

_"Beast and demon of your city who does not belong,_

_I have been watching from a long-distance,_

_one such as yourself does not deserve to be with your petty counterpart."_

This he could agree with, Evil Cole hated his 'good' side.

_"You and them are mismatched entirely,_

_whether you wish to be with where you are now or not,_

_I would greatly appreciate if you came to see me. _

_I shall be able to find you around eleven P.M.,_

_if you follow the red carpet flowing through the land,_

_you shall encounter the sender of this..._

_~ The lone reflection of a magical girl" _

He instantly crumpled up the note and shoved it into his pocket. Putting the mask back into the box. "Well, this chick sounds promising. But I gotta-" Evil Cole then gritted his teeth a bit. "Pssht! Yeah right, I don't need those idiots and they don't need me after what I did. I'll just wait out here, walking around 'til I see this 'carpet'." It certainly was no trick from Sweet Tooth, he could tell that now.

* * *

Pupul wasn't too sure about sitting with 'Santa'. Something was just too familiar about him, and it angered Kuu instantly. "Did I meet you before somewhere? I don't know if it's your build or your beard, or those weird eyes... But you look like a guy I met previously."

"I can tell you this: This isn't the first time you were feeling my thighs!" Kratos whapped him against the head instantly for that. "Ow! You're on the naughty list for next year too then!… Speaking of naughty! I was told by a few that you were very naughty this year Pupul… That's okay though, because Santa likes bad mortal girls!" Zeus chuckled.

She raised a brow out of being uncomfortable a bit. "I think you're a bit too _old_ for me Santa, geez! There are two things I want for Christmas actually." His hand moved over to the bag, ready for anything. "One thing is an outfit. I've been here for a while, but haven't got an alternate costume like everyone else! So, what better one than of my idol, Arle Nadja? And the second o-" Zeus placed a finger on Pupul's mouth.

A box appeared from his hands and in front of Pupuru. "I know what you're going to say. I can't wrap up Radec and shove him under a tree for you." The colonel twitched a bit from that. "Slightly hypocritical, you say I'm too old but he isn't? I won't put it against you, mortal sorceress." Without thinking, she unwrapped it, letting out a gasp of joy.

"You really did know what I want! Thank you Santa!" Pupul hugged him instantly, making Kuu freak out a bit and start chewing on Zeus's ankle. "Kuu! Stop that! There's something you can wear too as an alternate if you like!" The creature stopped as his partner scooped him up, jumping off of 'Santa'.

Zeus just gave a grin to her. "When you're older and become a wonderful mage, you can come back for other sorts of 'presents' from Santa if that Radec former-mortal doesn't want you! Who's next? How about you?" He pointed at Nariko, but Fat Princess landed right onto him instead. A grunt of pain was released from the impact.

While Pupul went to try on the new outfit and Fat Princess was trying to get what she wanted for Christmas, Emmett returned from looking around outside. "No sign of Evil Cole. I don't have any idea where he could have gone. There's a backwoods, but it's way too large and impossible to navigate. I even called out for his name, but there was no answer."

"Did you try tracking him down? Or do you not have anything to find him with?" Ratchet asked. "There isn't any way to get his trail? His evil energy? DNA?" Emmett shook his head in response, it was near impossible to track someone who was the self-proclaimed 'beast'.

Even regular Cole knew this, as he just looked out the window. "The only way to follow someone like him is if you were either had the same type of evil power as him, or were some sort of magician." Ratchet only now realized something, Clank was gone. He certainly didn't go outside with Emmett because he would have told his partner.

"If you're looking for your robot friend, he went to talk with my sister with Isaac." Uni said as she made her way into the conversation. "He wanted to patch things up so the holidays weren't so ruined for Noire. I just hope he knows what he's doing…"

Returning with the new look, Pupul showed it off. White shirt with blue sleeves and a skirt, and bright sapphire-colored armor around the shoulders and breast with gold around the edges. Neptune instantly complimented the look, as she was familiar with the previous _'Madou Monogatari'_ heroine. All Mr. Grimm could do was watch from a distance, not seeing Dart come next to him.

Usually the red-dragoon was quiet to almost everyone. But this one time her spoke a bit. "You know, you're surprisingly protective of that girl despite the fact she can handle herself. Most thought you wanted to suck out her soul or want to prove her strength." He turned his attention to Dart. "Others think _you're in love_ with her, and by the way you protected her from Kratos and threatened Zeus, I would agree." The reaper gave a look of shock, if Grimm was able to, he would be bright red right now.

But he had no skin or blood that showed off such. He just tried to laugh that claim off. "How _ridiculous_! I just simply can't let my opponents be in harm of others, Noire and Pupul would hate it too! Besides, a junkie of a reaper hyped on souls such as myself with a goddess would never work!..."

Dart simply just left without a word. Mr. Grimm lowered his eyes, upsetting himself by his own words, a sigh came out of him.

"Right… I'm not good enough for a goddess. I'm just… A figure of death with an addiction."

* * *

**((Santa Zeus… No, I do not regret that. The guy had kids with both of his own sisters and normal mortal women, don't expect him to ****_not_**** act like this.))**


	3. Noire's Forgiveness

**Chapter Three**

Noire had her faced buried in a pillow for a whole two hours now. Only once did she lift her head up when Uni left and let Clank and Isaac Clarke came in. Even then, she didn't answer them until they spoke. "It's not a problem if we're here, right?" The engineer asked.

A long relapsed sigh was released. "No. Not really. What is it? Can't you see I'm sulking? While you two didn't do anything, I think it's safe to say you All-Stars ruined enough as it is. Even with everything calmed down for now and stuff probably there for me, you'll all mess things up in another second. I have no one to blame but myself for thinking this was a good idea to prepare all this."

"Everyone has their moments Miss Noire, when a bunch of people that don't mix well get together, it's bound to happen." Clank said. "One slip-up happened, and now everyone feels bad about it. Most are even waiting for you to come back and are blaming themselves, me included." She sat up a little to listen to them more.

Isaac Clarke handed the Lastation goddess a box. "This was from Nepnep, but she didn't get a chance to give it to you since that fight happened. She said you were a fan of cosplaying." Noire widened her eyes a bit, taking the present into her hands instantly. "Christmas happens once a year, so we shouldn't let one episode to ruin the whole thing. Besides, like Clank said, grouping people together doesn't often result well. Hasn't that happened to you?"

For a moment she thought about it. "One time at a meeting. Back when me and Blanc, known as White Heart were associates instead of enemies... We both were goddesses in Lowee when the 'Console War' was small and Vert of Leanbox wasn't around. I got into a fight in this meet-up with two of Blanc's most loved characters… Some fat plumber and a blond teenager in green." Clank and Isaac flinched a bit, they had never heard about the 'Console Wars' consisting of more like Noire and Neptune.

"But you didn't let that get to you then, right?" Noire nodded. "Sure it took a while to get used to. You moved on from that event! And became your own group before whoever Vert was showed up!" Isaac patted her on the shoulder. "We're not forcing you to come by or anything, you can take your time. We just wanted to apologize for what went on, the others feel awful about it too, alright?" With that, he left with the smaller robot.

The goddess was thinking more, looking at the present in her hand...

* * *

"Still no sign of a red carpet, and it's 10:58!" Evil Cole huffed. He was walking around in the snow for a while now. The only thing keeping him warm were his powers, even then he was getting tired and fed up with whoever wanted him near. "Gotta at least wait two minutes before I call quits though."

And that was exactly what he did, continuing his travel in the woods. "Nothing... Must have been someone's prank." Ready to turn around, there was a spec at the corner of his eye. Not only that, but a trail... A sound coming from where it led.

It was more like a song actually, it was almost hard for Evil Cole to make out the words.

_"Red morality, how doth you find the way to my labyrinth?_

_One who wanders to the dark castle finds themselves caged,_

_unable to escape from the circus of freaks I have,_

_dance with the blue to cease his existence and become him._

_The real ones always ring the bell the right to trigger us." _

Evil Cole watched what was in front of him. No more snow around him, just a dimension filled with colors. A lone Harlequin stood there, juggling Christmas ornaments.

_"Mirror, oh mirror…_

_Who is the most mischievous one of them all?_

_And who else would there be? Other than __**the beast**__ and __**Anti-Christ**__ themselves?"_

She let out a small laugh and stopped her tricks to bow to him. Evil Cole just watched, raising a brow. "Hate to tell you this, but I'm no Anti-Christ." Upon closer inspection, he could see this clown had a mask like the one he got. Only a blue-tear instead of red, and a green star over the other eye rather than a black diamond.

Upon rising toward him, the clown shook Evil Cole's hand. "Anti-Christ is often the name for me, not yourself. I was that created from the glass of the devil himself. But I would prefer for now to call me 'Pierrot', as that is what I am now. Perhaps in a later time, I shall give you the name I bestow upon myself."

Now he was just confused. First this girl sending him weird yet poetic letters to see him, then saying things in more riddles, then she claims to be the Anti-Christ. "Funny. Usually Christmas is the birth of Jesus, first time I've seen the inversion of that. I didn't think the devil's kid was a chick dressed like a jester either. What next? You're gonna make it snow an apocalypse?" Evil Cole grinned. He couldn't tell what this lady was thinking.

Raising her arms up and shouting to the black skies, she did just that. **_"Chaos!"_** Shooting right out of her gloved hands came dark purple sparkles blowing in a harsh wind. They landed right onto Evil Cole, and he had to admit that it was rather chilly.

"Okay, so maybe you are the Anti-Christ. _Maybe._" He was still a tad skeptical toward this girl. "But what do you want with me then? My autograph? To take your place as a new Anti-Christ? Or join your little circus?" The Pierrot didn't mind how cocky he was toward her, she was surprisingly patient with Evil Cole.

All she could do was take off her mask as an attempt to explain. Evil Cole was shocked to see what was under it, not some sort of demon or abomination that came from the pits of Hell. But a regular looking girl with red eyes, dark hair into a short ponytail, and he could see that under the clown outfit a bit...

There was amethyst-colored armor with gold-edges. Much like what Zeus gave Pupul for Christmas, but Evil Cole did not even know about this since he had left before the the presents were being given out. "I want you to join me. And the rest of the misfits of our world. The mask is a token of membership, where we are, you could be accepted as the beast inside you. And we could both take the places of our blue-and-heroic counterparts. More power than you could ever imagine."

He had no idea how to take this offer from the Pierrot. "You got my attention a whole lot, but unfortunately, I'm here to create conduits. Ya see, the other Cole chose to save humanity, while 'The Beast' granted me powers to…" His words stopped, only now he realized something, and it made the girl smile.

"You don't remember who you are, do you? If Cole chose to be good and killed 'The Beast', how are you here is what you wonder? That's where I come in." His eyes widened. "Ah, you still think you belong in your ruined city... But I am a kind doppelganger, if you joined me, I could help get you anything if you really wanted it." Evil Cole just stared at her for a long time now.

Someone who dresses like a clown, calls herself the 'Anti-Christ' as opposed to him being 'The Beast', and now she just revealed what she really was. "Doppelganger? Alright Pierrot, spill it! Where do I come from and what do you want exactly?"

* * *

"And lo!" Noire busted right out of her room... With a Thor costume. Isaac Clarke grinned upon the sight. "Thou shalt be forgiven for the holidays! Such comes only once a year after all! I thank thee, Nepnep! Now what mischief and evil is Loki up to this time?!" Neptune began giggling, happy to see that the goddess of Lastation was once against satisfied.

Zeus cringed as he was handing Little Sister a plush teddy bear. "Why is she dressed like a _Norse_ God?! She should be one with Olympus!" He broke out of character for a moment, which confused the small girl greatly. "Er, in Santa's opinion! And Nariko, wonderful woman who holds the Heavenly Sword! You still haven't told me what you want, unless you wish to go to the back with Santa?"

No answer whatsoever, instead, Nariko pointed at the open front door. "Zeu- Santa!" There was Hera, dressed in red and drunk, much to Kratos surprise since he killed her. And like how she was before death, she wasn't looking very well. Zeus got up instantly and backed away.

"Uh, Mrs. Claus! It's not what it looks like, I promise you! You're the only one for me, Jessica!" She didn't listen, proceeding to beat Zeus with a goblet while he attempted to run away from Hera. Kratos and Scorpion watched the ridiculous scene, Sweet Tooth found himself amused by it greatly as Daxter took photos for the album.

Kratos turned to Noire. "Did you bring her back from the pits just for that?" She nodded. "I suppose it was a good call, we were all annoyed by Zeus and his tempts to those poor girls... Can I kill them both afterwards, Black Heart?"

A poke was against Sly Cooper. "Huh? Oh, hey Dan! What is it?" Sir Daniel knew that the raccoon wasn't going to be able to understand what he said, so he just held up two ribbons... Then pointed at Radec. "Wait, that thing Zeus joked about?… I'm in!" He turned on the invisibility cloak, and slid right over with one in his hands.

"That's what she wanted? A pathetic costume of a comic-book character?" Radec groaned a bit, then turned to Mr. Grimm, raising a brow at him. "You shouldn't ingest that much alcohol, or you'll be like the old hag going after 'Santa'. Even if you don't have a liver, you have enough addictions- Huh?" Only now he saw that his legs were being tied up by something.

Removing the cloak and laughing, Sly appeared. "I'll get you for this, you little-!" Mael wanted to strangle the thief, but then saw that his rival was trying up his wrists. "If you were into bondage and whatever Uni said about Kratos, Fortesque, at least say something first!" Sir Daniel gave a look of annoyance at that comment, proceeding to tape a mistletoe on his head.

Sly whistled instantly to grab attention. "Hey Pupul! Got you something Santa couldn't! Enjoy!" Radec felt his body freeze up as the sorceress squealed in joy upon the sight of her 'gift', Kuu twitched with his hateful stare, while the colonel became yelling out to detest as he was dragged off. Daniel found himself laughing, but then stopped to speak in mutters. "Too hard of punishment? Nah. Honestly after making fun of you, making comments about the girl, and threatening Clank... He deserved that, kudos to your idea."

Both of them proceeded to laugh about it along with other people in the room. Save Mr. Grimm, who was still wallowing around, surprisingly he was still sober. "Hey Grimm? You alright?" He stood up a bit, able to recognize Nepnep's voice. "I just wanted to thank you for earlier tonight. Even if you added fuel to the fire of that situation, you just thought the same thing as me, you thought what you were doing was right and out of defense!" There wasn't a response.

Taking out a case from behind her back, Neptune handed it to him slowly. "Sweet Tooth said one time, he dreamt about someone with the same name as you. But he was alive, and carried sickles rather than a scythe. So, I got this for you! I gave it chains also, kinda like how Scorpion has that one thing for his Level One!" Mr. Grimm stared at it, he knew who Nepnep was talking about.

He felt… _Happy._ Something he often only felt when satisfying his hunger of souls. "Hold up now! You mean to say you got this for me? On your own with only that clue of what to give?" She nodded. "And you aren't frightened of me at all despite the fact I'm addicted to sucking out souls?" She nodded again. "And what does the other you think? Your alter-ego?"

Like Sweet Tooth, most would run just from the sight of Grimm, judge before they even got to know him when his hunger mode wasn't on. "Huh? My CPU? Purple Heart? Dunno, lemme ask her." Neptune just closed her eyes for a moment. "She says you may be a fearful monster, but just need to be looked into deeper and find the humanity you once had! Whatever that means." All he could do was keep silence, choke back any form of emotion.

"Could you give me a bit of time to myself? Nothing you or your other-self did wrong. If I'm given the chance to fight you, I shall use these new toys!" She was confused, but Neptune smiled and chose to leave him alone for now. Once she was out of his sight, he put his head down against the counter and let out a small weep. "I am one who absorbs _souls_, why does my non-existing _heart_ ache from this dumb goddess?!" From a distance, Dart watched and rolled his eyes.

* * *

Evil Cole was entirely shocked. "That's my origin of coming here?! And you want me to join your community consisting of those like you and myself?!"

"It's merely an option. I won't force you, but I've been hopping around through dimensions for a couple years. I only assumed that you don't want the other Cole running around. And I was right upon watching you, as you are bitter toward _your mother_… Black Heart." Evil Cole stepped backwards from Pierrot.

He just couldn't believe what she was saying. "I am _'The Beast'_! And Noire isn't my mom! She just created a vast majority of us in a way!" Though the Pierrot was right, unlike others, Noire directly revived and made Evil Cole into a whole being with 'The Beast' in him. "And you just said earlier that…" He twitched a bit in disgust.

Pierrot just laughed. "Yes. As in, **_Polygon Man_** is your… _Half-brother_ I suppose. As Black Heart made you both from scratch, unlike the others which includes normal Cole." There was a sound, much like a large bell rang or something chiming. "Ah, midnight. Much like Cinderella, magic wears off so my temporary dimension will drop you off." She chuckled, putting the mask and top-part of her harlequin outfit back on.

Everything was starting to vanish around Evil Cole, he tried to speak but the colors were turning back to normal snow as the Pierrot ran into the darkness. Evil Cole tried to chase after, yelling out... Which made the others finally have no trouble finding him. Emmett Graves, Ratchet, Clank, and Jak finally caught up.

"Hey! Wait up now! Pierrot? Anti-Christ? _Doppelganger Arle_! Don't you run off just yet!" The four of them had looks of pure confusion on their face. "Oh great... What are you looking at?" Evil Cole growled a bit, Emmett felt like he may have heard that last name before, or at least part of it.

Pupul did say some name like that, but for now he left it alone. "C'mon Evil Cole." Jak said. "Dax is passed out, Radec's being held captive, plus Noire is playing 'Avengers' with Uni and the others despite the hour. If you're lucky, she'll forgive you for the stupid stunt you pulled."

Sackboy was cuddling up with Little Sister and her new plush bear,

Kratos felt at ease for once despite Zeus and his Santa act,

Pupuru got what she always wanted so Radec had to give in,

Mr. Grimm was turning emotional which made Sweet Tooth freak out a bit,

PaRappa and Kat got Scorpion's autograph for Toro,

Sly managed to give up one of his valuables for Nathan Drake since he didn't need it,

Daxter took embarrassing photos of everyone for the Christmas party album,

Abe gave Blasto something he could communicate with easier,

Noire found herself able to rub off what happened at dinner and forgave everyone.

With little doubt, it was the best kind of Christmas the All-Stars could ask for.

... Well, _almost_ all of them.

Doctor Nefarious began to shout. "Hey! What about me?! My dome is still cracked! Don't I get repairs for Christmas?!"

Either way, New Years was coming soon, and who knows what would be done after the second quarter of the tournament...

* * *

**((And that's the end! I actually had way more fun writing this than I should have… Oh, and this isn't the first time 'Pierrot' was in one of my fan-fics. **

**She said she was a dimension hopper and was mentioned in the first half of "I am you, and you are me, who are we then?"... So it may be wise to check those out so her asking Evil Cole to join makes more sense I guess?**

**Dunno if I should make a New Years fic or not, I should focus on the main story really, since this takes place after the first quarter and all.))**


End file.
